I've been to Birmingham a couple of times before but have stayed in the centre of the City. My exercise regime has suffered since being back in the UK so thought I'd have a go at finding somewhere to run in Birmingham. Not usually the easiest task in the centre of a city, but actually Birmingham is set on a series of canals and the tow paths make a perfect running track. Winter has started to set in but I can imagine that an evening drink next to a canal on a hot summer’s day would be lovely and so close to the centre of a big city.
After Exeter I drove up to Worcester for the Export Factor an event where over 100 companies from the West Midlands met to hear how UKTI can support them to export. The West Midlands, with its dominant automotive, minerals and metals and advanced engineering industries, has had a tough time in the recent recession. Unemployment has risen sharply. The Export Factor brought together businesses that were looking to export their way out of the slump.
I left the UK a year and a month ago, to the day. And now I'm on my first business development visit (BDV) back in Blighty.
After a long flight, I land at Heathrow and, apart from the rain, spot the new Terminal 5 building. I'm taken aback by the sheer scale of glass in the building, and honoured by the fact that Lord Richard Rogers, the architect of this sustainable terminal, spoke less than 48 hours earlier in our boardroom back in Australia.
This is my first time in Exeter. I enjoyed the drive down through Somerset and into Devon. I tried out my best West Country accent in the car on the way down with lots of drawn out vowels. Glaaaaaastonbury, Yeooooooovil and salvaaaage! Probably good that it stayed in the car!
I have a soft spot for Bristol. A great combination of old and new UK and lots of innovative SMEs!
We have seen large numbers of companies from the South West in Australia in recent months and they have demonstrated many times that smart companies with good products who prepare well often do good business in Australia.
I am writing this as I sit on the new Qantas A380 heading for UK. It’s over a year since I was back in UK. The last time I arrived I turned on the radio in my hire car to hear the news that Lehman Brothers had collapsed. The subsequent four hour drive to my home in Yorkshire left me concerned for the first time in my life that the banks might just fall over and something which had always felt guaranteed was actually at risk. So what will I find this time?
